The radicalization of libertarian Republicans

Paul Craig Roberts has been one of the most virulent critics of the Bush administration. For that matter so has reactionary Pat Buchanan, but Roberts is the more interesting because of his pedigree. Robert was a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under the Reagan administration. Recently, Roberts went so far as to suggest that the Bush administration is preparing to orchestrate a staged terrorist attack in the United States, transform the country into a dictatorship and launch a war with Iran within a year. He first issued this warning in his syndicated column, and then amplified it in an interview on the Thom Hartmann radio show.

Now, if a reasoned individual like Roberts is ready to basically throw in with the 9-11 conspiracists (sort of - I am taking some poetic license here), you have to wonder, when will the clearly progressive majority of the American people rise up and demand an end to the illegal, immoral dictatorship of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney?

Here is a link to Thom Hartmann's radio program archives. It appears that access is now free, but you still have to use a username and password (listed onthe page). The Roberts interview was on July 19. The link above is to several downloadable versions of the Roberts segment alone.

The progressive majority in America

I've always found the Libertarian line a bit daft - I mean, I have little faith in the "free" market to regulate itself. Human greed and avarice are just too overpowering motivations to allow room for altruism. And according to a recent study, most Americans really do believe that government should be the watchdog over the common good, making sure that those left behind by get a helping hand. A great deal of the information comes from a massive Pew Research Center study of American values from 1987-2007.

Some highlights of this report are:

On Health Care: 69 percent of Americans think it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have access to health coverage; 76 percent find access to health care more important than maintaining the Bush tax cuts; three in five would be willing to have their own taxes increased to achieve universal coverage.

On Energy Policy: 52 percent of Americans believe "the best way for the U.S. to reduce its reliance on foreign oil" is to "have the government invest in alternative energy sources"; 64 percent are willing to pay a higher energy tax to pay for renewable energy research; 68 percent of the public thinks U.S. energy policy is better solved by conservation than production.

On the Economy: 77 percent of Americans believe Congress should increase the minimum wage; 66 percent believe "upper-income people" pay too little in taxes; 53 percent feel the Bush administration's tax cuts have failed because they have increased the deficit and caused cuts in government programs.

On Government's Role: 69 percent of Americans believe the government "should care for those who can't care for themselves." Twice as many people (43 percent to 20 percent) want "government to provide many more services even if it means an increase in spending" as want government to provide fewer services "in order to reduce spending."

On Immigration: 62 percent of Americans believe undocumented immigrants should be given a chance to "keep their jobs and eventually apply for legal status." 49 percent believe the best way to reduce illegal immigration from Mexico is to penalize employers, not more border control.

Go to Iraq and fight, Mr. President

Keith Olbermann, on fire.



"You have condemned yourself to a place among that remarkably small group of Americans whom Americans cannot forgive: those who have sold this country out and who have willingly declared their enmity to the people at whose pleasure they supposedly serve."

The real Giuliani

Rudy Giuliani, the leading Republican candidate for the Presidency in 2008, is the perfect heir to the Bushite assault on American ideals. Painting himself in the colors of false heroism, this man, this monster, will only lead us further into penultimate decline. So, here, in the public interest, is a primer of readings on the real Giuliani:

Paul Craig Roberts on The Criminal Career of Rudy Giuliani.

Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone, "Giuliani: Worse Than Bush."

Giuliani Gets Exposed As Fraud by Firefighters:

In the interests of fairness, a critique at the above video.


Cashing In on Catastrophe by Wayne Barrett & Dan Collins.

Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11, book by Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins.

The Full Rudy: The Man, the Mayor, the Myth by Jack Newfield.

The infamous "Thank God that George Bush is our president, and thank God that Dick Cheney, a man with his experience and his knowledge and his strength and his background, is our vice president."

16 Reasons Why Rudy Giuliani Sucks

What America Needs to Know About Rudy Giuliani by Barbara O'Brien

Heckuva job, Rudy!

Giuliani's 9/11 Conspiracy Theory

Dude, where's my constitution?

We Americans are famous for taking everything for granted, whether it be cheap gasoline, clean water, Social Security when we retire. Oh, and a representative democracy based on an extraordinary document called the Constitution (accompanied by a Bill of Rights), replete with a system of checks and balances that prevents any one component of our government - executive, legislative and judicial - from amassing unmitigated power.

Right?

George Bush's legacy, which we are told has become of increasing concern to to this damaged shell of a man, will of course be the gravest attack on the principles of our democracy in the 200 years of its history. We no longer have a President, we have a king, and the king has a magic want called "executive privilege," with which the "people's business" suddenly has been placed on a "needs to know" basis. And we, the American people, apparently have no need to know.

From today's Washington Post: "Bush administration officials unveiled a bold new assertion of executive authority Thursday in the dispute over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, saying that the Justice Department will never be allowed to pursue contempt charges initiated by Congress against White House officials once the president has invoked executive privilege."

The American people should be outraged, but don't hold your breath waiting for the somnambulant masses to rise up in indignation. As for me, I am calling not only my own congresswoman, but a hell of a lot of others. I want impeachment proceedings started against these bastards NOW!

As for democracy? You don't miss your water until the well runs dry.

'Nuff said, you friggin' hypocrite

"I'm not going to answer endless questions about it all over again and again and again and again. That might sell newspapers, but it wouldn't serve my family or my constituents well."-- Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), 7/16/07, speaking out publicly for the first time about appearing on the D.C. Madam's list.

VERSUS

"Some current polls may suggest that people are turned off by the whole Clinton mess and don't care. ... But that doesn't answer the question of whether President Clinton should be impeached and removed from office because he is morally unfit to govern."-- Vitter, 10/29/98

Who knows where those thumbs have been... Just another hypocrite for Christ.

Bill Moyers Journal: Tough Talk on Impeachment

If you missed the excellent Bill Moyers' broadcast on the case for impeachment, head over here. All I have to say is: "ITMFA!"














But...

Olbermann on Chertoff's Colonic Creationism

When I begin to despair of any mainstream American media outlet providing any offset to the roiling gasbags of Fox News, Keith Olbermann rises forth and provides counterpoint to this unelected administration and their policy of deception and cruelty. By now, you've all heard of Department of Homeland Stupidity honcho Chertoff's prophetic gut. Here, Olbermann puts the clown's gastric prescience into perspective.



"You have by now heard the remark — instantly added to our through-the-looking-glass lexicon of the 21st century, a time when we suddenly started referring to this country as 'the homeland,' as if anybody here has used that term since Charles Lindbergh or the German-American Bund in 1940. Michael Chertoff’s 'gut feeling.'"

New Dope in Town

I've begun a new blog, sort of a MTV (Mirsky TV) featuring videos of my favorite singer-songwriters. Little did I know that YouTube could be such a treasure chest of vintage and/or obscure music video. Right now, there's just one artist featured, but I anticipate many by the time I've exhausted myself. Hopefully, something I post will constitute a new discovery for at least one visitor - then my job is done. Escuche.

Save the Internet - Act Before July 16

Act now!

Hot for Hil?

Well, not me, but this parody video is better than any of the candidate's, that's for sure. even that Sopranos take-off.



And here's Ms. Southern's blog.

Now, in the interest of equal time for the two poll leaders:




Now, don't you just love the political theater of our nation's electoral process?

LIBBY'S LIBERTY: Rehearsal for Pardon

One of my absolute favorite bloggers is video producer and writer Tom Degan, up in Goshen, NY. Rather than attempt to encapsulate my own thoughts on the totally unsurprising commutation of Scooter Libby's 30 month jail term while awaiting sentencing on his litany of lies to protect his boss Blackheart Dick and our soulless president, I point you to Tom's well-scribed take on the issue:

"The Rant" by Tom Degan: LIBBY'S OFF THE HOOK

Does anybody REALLY read this guy?

I had never heard of Jonah Goldberg until his column suddenly appeared in my local scratchsheet, yet another right wing commentator on an editorial page already over-burdened with them (which the wingnut residents of my town pillory regularly in the letter pages for being too liberal). I read his column once and was immediately outraged. It reeked of narcissism, and a toxic dose of neocon arrogance. It is now shunned, along with Cal Thomas, and Bill "Never-met-a-lie-I-didn't-like" O'Reilly.

I just don't get it. How can someone with better than half-a-brain continue to be an apologist for the worst presidency in American history, an administration with a pathological aversion to the truth that has done more to trash the ideals of this nation than any of its predecessors, an administration whose arrogance and incompetence would be laughable were it not for the fact that hundreds of thousands of innocents have died because of them?

Justin Raimundo said it pretty well on his blog: "Jonah Goldberg's facile punditry masks a truly nasty nature seems beyond dispute: after all, here is someone who made his reputation, such as it is, retailing sex tapes surreptitiously recorded, "leaking" a trail of slime that eventually slipped up a President. A more fitting symbol of the Clinton era conservative movement – a gaggle of remarkably unattractive character assassins, bereft of ideas and fixated on filth – would be hard to imagine."

And Juan Cole hoisted the fool by his petard a few years ago when Jolly Jonah was still one of the Iraq invasion's biggest cheerleaders. But what really gets my goat is the sense that Goldberg pontificates without any direct, firsthand experience of most of the things he writes about. Or, to quote a reader of Mr. Cole's: "He looks to be of military age. Ask him why his sorry ass isn't in the kill zone."

How does he sleep?

The Country of Dick*

Just as George W. Bush has redefined the American presidency as a monarchy, so has Dick Cheney re-defined the Vice Presidency as the power behind the throne of the idiot king. Prime Minister Cheney, he of the perpetual sneer and black heart has declared himself a government unto himself. As reported in the Washington Post yesterday, Blackheart Dick's office has refused for 4 years to comply with an executive order demanding that classified information is handled according to the rule of law. The Dick went so far as to propose that the Information Security Oversight Office of the National Archives and Records Administration served with confirming compliance with the executive order be abolished this year when his office was once again pressed for the reports.

The penchant for secrecy of the Cheney/Bush administration has been unmatched in American history. The American public has been denied the right to know who was involved in Dickie's energy task force (which set energy policy for this craven administration), where Cheney travelled on private funds, and, most recently, the Secret Service logs of visitors to his fortress-like residential compound in Arlington.

Who does this nasty little brute think he is? His is the true face of the Bush Presidency, and it is extraordinary to me that this creep's favorable ratings hover near single digits while Dubya's maintain at 25%. Is that quarter of the American public so god damned stupid that they can't connect The Prime Minister to the King?

That's a rhetorical question.

*I thank Randi Rhodes for the concept of the "the Country of Dick."

Judicial Watch Releases New FBI Documents: Osama bin Laden May Have Chartered Saudi Flight Out of U.S. after 9/11

Washington, DC) -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released new documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) related to the “expeditious departure” of Saudi nationals, including members of the bin Laden family, from the United States following the 9/11 attacks. According to one of the formerly confidential documents, dated 9/21/2001, terrorist Osama bin Laden may have chartered one of the Saudi flights.

Read the whole story.

President Schmuck

I realized that some accidental visitors to this blog may take offense at my referring to the President of the United States as as a "sad, sick, silver-spoon loser." I meant to say "sad, sick, silverspoon, emotionally stunted, shallow, INSENSITIVE asshole." Why? Read this:

Several mothers who have lost children at war in Iraq took part in a new talk show on National Public Radio.

One of them, Elaine Johnson, recounted a meeting that she had with President Bush in which he gave her a presidential coin and told her and five other families: "Don’t go sell it on eBay.”

An excerpt from the interview on NPR's Tell Me More can be heard here.

Read more here.

President Wackjob

Need any more convincing?

Georgie Anne Geyer wrote recently in the Dallas Morning News about President Bush’s strange behavior during a recent meeting with “[f]riends of his from Texas” who were shocked to find him nearly wild-eyed, thumping himself on the chest three times while he repeated “I am the president!” He also made it clear he was setting Iraq up so his successor could not get out of “our country’s destiny.”

Read more about this sad, sick, silver-spoon loser's meltdown here.

US Attorney Resigns After Greg Palast Delivers Emails to John Conyers

Tim Griffin, formerly right hand man to Karl Rove, resigned Thursday as US Attorney for Arkansas hours after BBC Television ‘Newsnight’ reported that Congressman John Conyers requested the network’s evidence on Griffin’s involvement in ‘caging voters.’ Greg Palast, reporting for BBC Newsnight, obtained a series of confidential emails from the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign. In these emails, Griffin, then the GOP Deputy Communications Director, transmitted so-called ‘caging lists’ of voters to state party leaders.

Experts have concluded the caging lists were designed for a mass challenge of voters’ right to cast ballots. The caging lists were heavily weighted with minority voters including homeless individuals, students and soldiers sent overseas.

Read more at Greg Palast's web site.

The plan to steal '08

While, the Dems cave on Iraq war benchmarks, seemingly forgetting why the American people gave them Congress back, the real scandal of the Republican leadership (yeah, I know: "which scandal?") lies undetected right under their noses. And even as the Judiciary committee calls yet another braindead graduate of Pat Robertson's law school to chant "I don't remember" under oath, the evidence of Karl Rove's felonious assault on our democracy, replete with the fingerprints of his soft, pale white hands, is stinking right in front of their noses.

Leave it to Greg Palast, intrepid American investigative reporter (who has to work for the BBC 'cause no one except Air America and Democracy Now will touch his stuff) to get the goods on the imperial pasty one and his goon Tim Griffin (currently the "interim" DA for Arkansas - a swing state, I remind you). In a nutshell, Palast and a buddy registered a website "rnc.com" in the hopes that the Rovebots would screw up and send emails to that address rather than "rnc.org" - the correct web site of the Republican National Committee. They were using the RNC instead of official government email addresses so that the emails wouldn't be potential public record.

And why would they be concerned about that? Only because they were breaking the law. Anyway, Bush's boy "genius" did screw up. And some 500 emails went to the bogus site. Well, Greg's got them, and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. John Conyers, is interested (finally).

In this case, the law being broken involves a process known as "caging." ‘Caging’ was a 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign scheme to challenge, on false evidence, the right to vote of tens of thousand of African-American voters.

Here’s how caging works: letters were sent “Do Not Forward” to voters at home addresses. When the letters were returned to sender (”caged”), the voter’s right to vote was challenged. The letters, however, were targeted at African-American homeless men, students — and soldiers send overseas (many to Bush & Cheney's nasty little oil war in Iraq) — all legal voters who, because they were shipped to Iraq or for other reasons, were not at their home address. BBC obtained 50 ‘caging’ lists with 70,000 voters including large groups of servicemen.

Now, it just so happens that Rove's protege Tim Griffin, thrust into the position in Arkansas by the Rotund Rove himself, was neck deep in this little operation. Palast showed, on camera, the email he intercepted from the Bush campaign, “Subject: caging,” written by Griffin himself, making clear that Griffin was not just involved, the but the director of this vote fixing scheme. So, what does this have to do with the 2008 election? Do yourself a favor and buy the paperback edition of Palast's "Armed Madhouse" and educate yourself.

(Some text in this post was borrowed from Greg Palast's web site).

General Batiste: "Protect America, Not George Bush"